Details from Jeff Greenspan on the Nevada State Republican Convention
Jeff Greenspan, Ron Paul 2008 Southwest Coordinator, wanted to add details to the latest release from the campaign regarding the Nevada State Republican Convention in Reno on April 26th:
“The Nevada State Republican Convention was called to an abrupt halt on Saturday, April 26 after national delegates had been selected in Congressional Districts One and Three and in the midst of counting the votes for national delegates from Congressional District Two. Around 5pm, Convention Chairman Bob Beers asked the Ron Paul campaign if the campaign would like to recess ‘to have a meeting with its delegates, because the McCain campaign had asked for one.’ Later, around 6pm, Beers announced that the convention was recessed, stating that the contract on the convention hall had expired and the convention would be reconvened at some future date. Convention delegates committed to Ron Paul and John McCain, as well as hundreds of uncommitted delegates, were left bemused.
“‘At the time I was surprised,’ said Washoe County delegate Wayne Terhune. ‘We had an orderly meeting proceeding according to the rules.’
“By the time of the recess, voting for three national delegates from Congressional District One and three national delegates from Congressional District Three had been completed, tallied and verified. Convention Chair Beers himself read off the ballots for Congressional District One which resulted in the election of Senator John Ensign, Danny Tarkhanian and Chris Dyer of North Las Vegas as national delegates. Dave Gibbs, a member of the Clark County Republican Party Executive Board who also observed the vote counting, shook Chris Dyer’s hand and congratulated him on being elected as a national delegate. Chris Dyer is a committed Ron Paul supporter.
“In Congressional District Three, Ron Paul supporters Arden Osborne, Carl Bunce, and Elizabeth BelCastro were elected with 96, 90 and 85 votes respectively, followed by Bruce Woodbury, the County Commissioner for Clark County, with 40 votes. State Senator Barbara Cegavske, also a candidate for national delegation in her Congressional District, initialed the credential badges of state delegates as they cast their votes and observed the vote counting.
“In Congressional District Two, Congressman Dean Heller was in the lead when the tallying was halted, followed closely by Ron Paul supporters Robert Terhune, Pat Kerby and Marla Criss, all Ron Paul supporters. When the count was halted, the remaining approximately 50% of the ballots yet to be counted were placed into seven sealed envelopes, signed by supporters of both John McCain and Ron Paul, and placed in casino a safe at the Peppermill Casino in Reno. The Ron Paul campaign obtained Xerox copies of the signatures and drivers licenses of those who signed the sealed envelopes and deposited them in the safe.
“The Ron Paul campaign is confident that the Nevada State Republican Party will ensure that the votes cast by of all of the delegates on the convention floor will be respected. And the campaign hopes that when the convention reconvenes, the party will complete the counting of Congressional District Two votes and that voting for the twenty-two at large national delegates from the list of those nominated at the convention will proceed in an orderly, transparent fashion in accordance with the rules in effect at the time of the recess – which remain in effect now and for the reconvening of the convention as had been determined by an overwhelming majority of state delegates.”
April 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Great effort there in NV!. However, could someone please explain to me the signifigance of the procedure change we voted through?
April 30th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Jarrod,
If you are referring to the rule change, the significance is that the nominees for the national delegate positions would come from the floor, rather than from a committee. Or rather, those who had already filled out their application and had been selected for the “short list” by the committee would not be the only ones to be considered (by a vote) for selection as national delegates.
The why of it: 1: many delegates had not received the application, contrary to what the party claimed, and thus did not have the chance to apply. 2: the convention was not informed of who had applied, nor who had been preselected for the “short list” by the committee, and thus how were we to know if the committee had done something awful, such as remove all known Ron Paul supporters. (I’m not saying that they did that, but I think it was worth changing the rule to allay such a fear)
3: I don’t believe that alternate delegates were given the application form, even though they were moved up to full delegate status at the convention, due to many empty delegate seats.
If there’s any more info, or even corrections, someone in the know please let me know. I was distracted during the morning, trying to read through the proposed Platform.
–
Ed
April 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Was the recess called so that McCain delegates could organize and concentrate their future votes on as few as possible McCain delegates to increase their chances against an organized Ron Paul camp? Are there rules requiring adequate notification to ALL delegates giving them enough time to attend “part 2″? Is what was done, calling a recess without voter approval, legitimate, illegal, or just immoral? Will they actually try to reassemble with the same people as before, or will they try to skew the numbers to their favor? What can be done by party activists to ensure fairness at this point?
Thanks
April 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I heard the Peppermill said that the room was still available and the recess was not called due to the contract…
April 30th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Could someone summarize what all of this means? On what grounds was it “halted” and how can this not be seen as election tampering? I’m still struggling to understand what the hell all of this means.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Will someome please go to the manager of the Peppermill Casino Hotel, in Reno Nevada, who was on duty the evening of April 26 and get the facts as to what time the GOP had rented the auditorium/hall for its dlelgate convention.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Way to go, Mr. Greenspan and company! Good job, Nevada! Keep up the work, it does this body good (rather, well). Probably does many bodies good. Learning is going on here. Keep on teaching, keep on reporting!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:06 am
Terrifying:
This is a prime example of the incredible irresponsibility of voting institutions across the nation. This was done by someone who I know; fear not, he didn’t tamper with anything. It was merely a demonstration of how irresponsible Florida is when it comes to voting, not to mention the rest of the nation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTP5GoOS2XI
May 1st, 2008 at 9:27 am
2 points-I wouldn’t trust them for a second with those uncounted dist 2 ballots. Maybe I’m paranoid, but handing those over to the opposition seems foolish to me.
Never compromise with the establishment! They want to compromise because they are afraid. Stick to your guns and don’t fear because we have the majority in these conventions and we are on the side of liberty and the constitution.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:39 am
Perhaps the wrath of the Almighty?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/05/01/nv.quake/index.html
Keep fighting Nevada. If we keep up the hard work, we can become the Republican Party.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Does anyone have an ‘(un)official’ RP delegate count? Or, estimate?
May 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hello everyone,
the following is copied-’n-pasted from the thread titled “Nevada Convention” because I think this is extremely important, relevent, and useful with respect to this thread and the various issues/themes that belong to it. ENJOY!!!! (the copied-’n-pasted part is in-between the “==== ’s”):
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JB in Minny Says:
May 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am
Every RP in every State should take note of the NV experience.
I’d encourage each campaign to do the following prior to State Convention:
1. Get an Agenda
2. Request that speeches/videos & other fluff be tabled in the event that “business” needs doing. Ask the committee chair to agree to the principal: “Business above all else.”
3. Get a copy of the contract where the event is being held.
All in the name of fairness & transparency.
During the convention:
1. Move to request that any agenda item that does not related to business at-hand (ie speeches/videos) be tabled for after election or only during vote-counting.
2. Move to ask for pertinent contract details (ie how long have the room).
Again, this is all in the name of transparency. McCainites should have no issue with this. Only GOP convention controllers may take issue.
Remind them…..the convention process is FOR THE PEOPLE, not the POLITICAL ELITE. The local political dignitaries may want to address the audience to garner money, time, information or votes for THEIR campaign…..BUT THE REASON YOU ARE THERE IS TO ELECT DELEGATES.
Business before pleasure.
I’d probably avoid using the term political elite, offense could be taken at that…..I’d say….for the PEOPLE, not the Politicians.
+1
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–E.K.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Hello everyone,
the following is copied-’n-pasted from the thread titled “Reno Rally” because I think this is extremely important, relevent, and useful with respect to this thread and the various issues/themes that belong to it. ENJOY!!!! (the copied-’n-pasted part is in-between the “==== ’s”):
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HC in NV Says:
April 28th, 2008 at 12:04 am
It is vital in states with conventions coming up that the rules are understood. The rules of the convention, the rules of the state rep. party and any other governing rules in your particular state. From what I observed here in NV, RP supporters worked within the parameters set by the party to bring about change and conduct business. The better you understand the rules the more you will be able to accomplish. Additionally, find your decorum and take it with you to your convention if you are a delegate. That does not mean you have to be spineless or back down, it means be respectful. Look to Dr. Paul as an example. He remains respectful while being disrespected. Follow that. Be strong in that. Be polite, listen to others politely, without heckling. If you are heckled, ignore it. Do not get drawn into a melee that will ultimately be blamed on RP supporters no matter what the situation actually is. We are the trouble-makers in the minds of many. Do not give fuel to that fire.
And to address a couple of comments from above…what happened to your trust in Dr. Paul? The most fiscally responsible politician and you doubt that he would use our money appropriately. It is fair to ask the question, it is dangerous to start spouting off unsubstantiated reports of misuse of money. I do agree it is a fair discussion to have, and it would be nice to know the plans for any money ‘left-over’, if there is any. But, if you donated to the campaign, I would suspect that you did so out of trust. If you did not have that trust, perhaps you should have kept your money and avoided this fear of your money being wasted.
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very sincerely,
Emre Kazan
–E.K.
+0
+1
May 1st, 2008 at 6:09 pm
You should do all of those things.
I mean that literally. Call your state party up and ask for the agenda, rules, bylaws and resolutions prior to the convention.
When people say “you should” that means they just took that action item themselves.
So, before you say “you should” get the agenda, go do it *yourself* and then post. You will not have the agenda, but you will have some good lessons learned.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Thank you Nevada, you did so well that your “own party” feels threatened. We are learning so much from this awful situation….your sharing makes us wiser and stronger. Keep up the fight you are doing fantastic.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Walt, Senator Bob Beers announcing an indefinate recess, striking the gavel, and walking away was certainly immoral. Legal? I’m not qualified to answer but I’m sure it’s being looked into. I’d like to see Beers impeached at the very least. It was indeed election tampering, in my opinion.
Sean, reread Jeff’s original post. the ballots are sealed in envelopes, with signatures of the counters which include Ron Paul supporters, and are locked in a safe. The entire nation will be watching the reconvened convention, if the GOP “elite” try any other stunts we’ll fight it, and the country wil see it.
JB in Minny, I agree with you 100%. Great advice for all Ron Paul delegates and supporters. The only thing I would add is to have at least a few people from each county become EXPERTS at parlimentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order. It’s not something that can be learned in an evening, but it’s absolutely vital. Please believe me on this.
I don’t know when the Nevada Convention will reconvene, but when it does we’ll all be there to support Ron Paul to the end.
Best of luck at your own state conventions. Be very alert, keep your eyes and ears open, and be ready for anything. Knowing parlimentary procedures and Robert’s Rules of Order will be among your best weapons of defense.
Here’s a very telling letter I found on Bob Beers web site blog. It sheds a lot of light on what happened that evening. And yes, if Beers has it deleted from his blog I have screen shots of it that I can post all over the web.
—–
Bob,
I can’t even tell you how disappointed my family and I are with you
over Saturday’s Republican Convention. I entered the Convention with
excitement and anticipation. You see Mr. Beers, this was my first
State Republican Convention and I had saved money just to attend.
My intent was simple, support our parties pick John McCain.
I was really disheartened as I watched Ron Paul supporters being down graded,
insulted and yelled at by McCain supporters. I always thought that people had
the right to vote for and support whomever they wished.
As the day went on I saw the Republican officers, especially you dragging feet,
as if it was intentional. Then I was appalled when a John McCain representative
approached me and my friend to inform us that you, Mr. Beers were going to
recess the convention in 30 minutes, followed by her instructions for us to
leave the convention area as soon as you did this. Sure enough in 30 minutes
you stepped to the microphone and recess the convention till a later date,
just as we were told.
I sat in shock as McCain supporters got up and walked out on the convention,
just as they had been directed. It reminded me of a childhood game that was
lost and the poor sport took his ball and went home.
Then these McCain supporters stood in the doorways making “cat calls” and
screaming insults at those of us sitting there in shock. I even saw McCain
supporters turning off the lights like some childhood prank.
So many things went through my mind, like the amount of money I just wasted
to attend. I didn’t know how to explain to my wife that this money could have
been spent on my family.
I have to tell you that because of these actions I will no longer support
John McCain, but that’s not the worst. My family will not support you ever again.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
RP won less than 50 delegates and did not win 1 state.How can he take over the GOP. He will not even be allowed to speak at the convention.He will not take over anything